Congress will vote on a continuing resolution to fund the government on or by December 22nd. Many Democrats have said that they won't vote for a continuing resolution unless it includes a Clean Dream Act, e.g. no wall funding and no more funding to militarize the border. Rep. Peterson, a Democrat, says he supports DREAMers but has been ambivalent about what he means by that. This petition is intended to help him clarify his thinking. There are many DREAMers in District 7 and we all need Rep. Peterson to provide them with some hope.

I have not been affected, but my sympathies are definitely with the young Dreamers who deserve better.

The SECURE Act would increase deportation agents, increase border patrol agents, make immigrants fear local police, increase racial profiling, force immigrants to quit their jobs, and undermine family immigration policies. These are policies that will undermine the Dream Act, and John Cornyn knows it. But this is what he wants Democrats to trade in a deal for the Dream Act. Cornyn has done this for YEARS. He says he supports immigrants and pro-immigrant policies, but when it comes to legislation he’s a hardliner through and through. John Cornyn needs to stop playing games with the lives of 800,000 Dreamers, including more than 124,000 in Texas alone. Tell him to support the bipartisan Dream Act instead of poison pill legislation!

DACA protects immigrants who were brought to the united states at a young age, in return DACA requires those to come out and register that they are here and will not be deported. The common misconception is that DACA recipients receive federal aid, but in reality they do not.

Nelson Pinos has been living in a church on the New Haven green since November 30th. He sleeps on a mattress and box spring on the floor in an administrative office on the 2nd level. Family and friends visit when they can. Nelson is very grateful to the church community for welcoming him, but also acknowledges that being separated from his family is like being in jail. Nelson’s family visits whenever they can. Brandon, Nelson's 5-year-old son, keeps asking why his dad can't leave the church. Brandon has been actively working on perfecting the letter "G" while visiting his dad after school - trying to keep up with the kindergarten homework as best he can. He doesn’t understand why the family can’t wake up together on Christmas morning. Kelly, at 15, is thinking she'll have to get a job to help support the family. Nelson is the sole provider for this family of 5, having worked at the same company for 15 years. Kelly's currently a sophomore in high school, so it will be hard to work and maintain her grades. Supporters have set up a fundraising account to help the family through this difficult time (https://www.youcaring.com/search/go?w=nelson%20pinos). Please sign this petition, and join us as we denounce the injustices of this administration against Nelson’s family and all immigrant families! Please help us get Nelson home. Please tell ICE that we value families. Keep Nelson Home! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc2R0EjE7T4 http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Pinos-set-for-deportation-seeks-sanctuary-in-12394791.php https://www.flickr.com/photos/eino_sierpe/albums/72157688117374562

Miriam Martinez-Lemus has lived in Connecticut for over 25 years with intermittent ICE check-ins. She has 2 minor daughters, one of whom needs constant monitoring to keep her insulin levels in check. Miriam was scheduled to be deported Monday, November 20th at 3 pm. Instead of boarding a one-way flight to Guatemala as ICE instructed her to, Miriam went home, saying publicly “I cannot leave my child. I cannot take her to Guatemala- there is no medicine for her. I must be by her side." One of Miriam’s daughters has insulin dependent type I juvenile diabetes. On a good day, her daughter's blood sugar levels are sustained with an insulin pump and only need to be checked every 2 hours- including while she sleeps. Most other days since she was diagnosed with this life-threatening disease 2 years ago, her daughter has fluctuations in blood sugar levels and ketones that require a cocktail of insulin injections and closer monitoring to prevent a seizure or worse. Miriam is the primary caretaker for her daughter, but part of a team that includes her husband Raphael and the good doctors at Yale New Haven Hospital's Children's Pediatric Endocrinology Department. All are concerned that taking Miriam away from her US citizen daughter might trigger a diabetic reaction. Miriam is home with her daughter today - defying ICE. But ICE now considers her a fugitive and could take her in to custody. The faith leaders in Connecticut have spoken out in support of Miriam. Her mayor, state representative, state senator, governor, US congressperson, and both US senators are outraged that a kind and loving woman with a medically needy child would be deported. They’ve called this cruel and inhumane. Please tell Congress and ICE that Miriam should NOT BE DEPORTED. We value Miriam and her family needs her to survive.

You may not have heard of Thomas Homan, but he’s one of the top officials responsible for the tens of thousands of deportations we’ve seen under the Trump Administration. Homan has been the acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Donald Trump, and now Trump wants him to be the official director of the agency. This means the Senate -- and first, the Senate Homeland Security Committee -- will have to vote on his confirmation. Homan has said that “no population is off the table” when it comes to deportations and that immigrants “need to be worried.” He wants all immigrants, from young children to Dreamers to parents, to live in fear of deportation. Even worse, ICE agents under Homan’s leadership have operated unchecked. Last month in Oregon, they entered a home to arrest a man without a warrant. All year, agents have detained immigrants outside schools, churches, hospitals, and courthouses -- “sensitive” locations where they’re not supposed to operate. Hate groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform are celebrating Homan’s nomination, which makes him an unacceptable choice for ICE Director. Homan means bad news for immigrants and their allies, which is why we need to tell the Senate Homeland Security Committee to vote NO on his nomination. Learn more about Homan's unacceptable record as Acting Director of ICE here. https://americasvoice.org/blog/homan-nominated-ice-director/

Countless students at colleges and universities across Utah have enrolled on the hope for the promising future provided by DACA. Now they are in a state of limbo as they await the determination of their dreams' fate. These individuals have the right to an education and a fighting chance toward a successful future.

Congress needs to act before hard-working families have their lives torn apart. Taking away TPS status or letting it expire would throw hundreds of thousands of families into chaos as mothers and fathers lose their legal status to stay in the country. We could be forced to decide whether to divide our families or to take our children to dangerous and unfamiliar countries. TPS recipients are mothers, neighbors, caregivers, business owners and community members. We are parents to 273,000 children who have lived in the United States their whole lives and know no other home. Removing TPS recipients from the country is inhumane and makes no economic sense. It would cost employers nearly $1 billion in immediate turnover costs. It would cost our country an estimated $164 billion in gross domestic product over 10 years. It would destabilize housing markets. It would be especially devastating to fragile communities that are struggling to recover from hurricanes in Florida and Texas, where TPS recipients are on the frontlines of rebuilding communities. Please join me in asking Congress to keep the families of 273,000 children together by protecting TPS for 320,000 immigrants who currently have legal status in the U.S. because their countries are devastated by war and disaster.

A 287(g) certification is harmful for Dakota County. In general, deputized officers are authorized to: •interview individuals to ascertain their immigration status; •check DHS databases for information on individuals; •issue immigration detainers to hold individuals until ICE takes custody; •enter data into ICE’s database and case management system; •issue a Notice to Appear (NTA), the official charging document that begins the removal process; •make recommendations for voluntary departure in place of formal removal proceedings; •make recommendations for detention and immigration bond; and •transfer noncitizens into ICE custody. A study by the University of North Carolina School of Law and American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina (ACLU-NC) found that “287(g) encourages, or at the very least tolerates, racial profiling and baseless stereotyping, resulting in the harassment of local residents and the isolation of an increasingly marginalized community.” Please join us and urge the Dakota County Sheriff's office to withdraw their application to become 287(g) certified.

My husband, Moussa Mahaman, is being held at Buffalo Federal Detention Facility awaiting deportation back to the country of Niger. He has an extended American family who loves him dearly and is now suffering the imminent loss of a husband, step-father, and Baba (grandpa). Please speak out to help us stop this unjust removal of Moussa.

This is what our country has come to: We're imprisoning little children immediately following emergency surgery. Ten-year-old Rosa Maria Hernandez is now in a detention center, 150 miles away from her parents, after Border Patrol was alerted while she was on her way to a life-saving gallbladder surgery. Rosa Maria is undocumented, having been brought to the U.S. when she was just three months old. According to The New York Times, Border Patrol agents allowed Rosa Maria to continue to Driscoll Children's Hospital but followed the ambulance the rest of the way there, then waited outside her room until she was released from the hospital. Rosa Maria is now in a children's detention center for immigrants, over 150 miles away from her parents, who are both undocumented, in Laredo. Even for Trump's administration, this is a new low. The Border Patrol violated many of its own guidelines around avoiding sensitive places like hospitals and keeping children and families together whenever possible. If enough of us raise our voices, Trump will have no choice but to let Rosa Maria go, and we might even be able to make changes to make sure this sort of violation never happens again.